could mitt romney really fire big bird? just the thought of it has pbs fans all fired up. nightly news begins now. . >>> good evening, coming off a lackluster debate performance, the president got some good news today, 32 days before the election, the nation's jobless rate fell to the lowest level of his term in office. economists will argue what it means, but here are today's numbers, the economy gained about 14,000 jobs in the last month, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.8%, that is where today's political debate in this country started out. we have it all covered here tonight. and we'll begin our coverage with nbc's andrea mitchell, good evening, andrea. >> reporter: good evening, brian, in a week that has been a roller coaster for both of the candidates, today's news gave a good bit of a jolt, but that set off a fire storm on what it really means. the news that the unemployment dipped below 8% since he took office came just in time for a president battered by his poor performance in the debate. >> today's news should give us some encouragement. it shouldn't be an exc